(a) The poem is about a major disturbance e.g. political disturbance such as
coup detat political upheaval, ethic clashes e.g. traumatic experience/
turbulence at personal level such as divorce, tape, death of a loved
one. Return to apparent fence
(b) The greenery implies peacefulness/ peace whether at the individual or
political level. The yellow sots implies possibility of danger or
turbulence. Things are not as tranquil or peaceful as they seem
Red is imminent violence/ turbulence. Up heaved
(c) Any two of the following
Personification e.g. rests, ' occupies' fleeing'
Symbols e.g. 'pond' for country of one life, “stone” for the cause of the
turbulence and leaves a permanent scar/ reminder/ aftermath
Repetition e.g. 'ripples' 'the red'
Onomatopoeia e.g. splash, ripples, rushing……
Alteration e.g hand in hand convey harmony'
' reflection regain stirring surges
(d) sad/tragic/ pessimistic/ ironic/ stoical/ resigned/ identification
although life may seem calm and peaceful on the surface, there is a
possibility of disturbance or turbulence
(e) the cause of the turbulence/ ripples is permanent
(f) Surges- move forward in a wave – like manner
Fade- lose strength/ vigour
Tranquil – calm, quiet, motionless
marto answered the question on June 27, 2019 at 06:27
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:
Touch by Hugh Lewin
When I get out
I’m going to ask someone
To touch me
Very gently please
And slowly,
Touch me
I want
To learn again
How life feels
I’ve not been touched
For seven years
For seven years
I’ve been untouched
Out of touch
And I’ve learnt
To know now
The meaning of
Untouchable.
Untouchable-not quite
I can count the things
That have touched me
One: fists
At the beginning
Fierce mad fists
Beating beating
Till I remember
Screaming
Don’t touch me
Please don’t touch me
Two: paws
The first four years of paws
Every day
Patting paws, searching
Arms up, shoes off
Legs apart-
Probing paws, systematic
Heavy, indifferent
Probing away
All privacy.
I don’t want fists and paws
I want
To want to be touched
Again
And to touch.
I want to feel alive
Again
I want to say
When I get out
Here I am
Please touch me.
(From poets to the people, edit by Barry Feinberg)
a) Where do you think the personal is? Briefly explain your answer.
b) What do you think the persona means by 'touch'?
c) Using two illustrations, describe the persona’s experience during the seven years
d) What is the significance of the word paws ?
e) Which device does the poet use to reinforce the theme?
f) Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used in the poem
Prodding
Indifferent
g) What does the poem reveal about human need?
Date posted: June 27, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the question that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the question that follow.
Isatou died
When she was only five
And full of pride
Just before she new
5 How small a loss
It brought to such a few
Her mother wept
Half grateful
To be so early bereft.
10 And did not see the smile
As tender as the root
Of the emerging plant
Which sealed her eyes
The neighbours wailed
15 As they were paid to do
And thought how big a spread
Might be her wedding too
The father looked at her
Through marble eyes and said;
20 “Who spilt the perfume
Mixed with morning dew?”
Lenrie Peters
(From: The Earth Is Ours. Edited by Ian Gordon)
i) Identify any two pairs of rhyming words in this poem.
ii) Which words would you stress in line 2 of this poem, and why?
iii) How would you say the last two lines of this poem?
Date posted: June 27, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
How doeth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower.
How skilfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.
In works of labour or of skill
I would be busy too.
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do
In books or work or healthful play
Let my first years be past,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last
i) Identify four pairs of rhyming words in the poem?
ii) Besides rhyme, identify and illustrate two other ways though which rhythm has been achieved in this poem
iii) Imagine you are listening to a live presentation of this poem. What four things would you do to benefit most from the listening experience?
Date posted: June 12, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow in the spaces provided.(Solved)
Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow in the spaces provided.
MY TRAIN JOURNEY TO MOMBASA
Kurukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
The train moves
Roaring and racing on the ridge.
Kukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
Crawling,criss-crossing beautiful plains
I sit staring at scenic scenes
Observing the wild animals.
Kukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
I feel the heat
I see the Swahili houses
Thriving thatched homestead.
Kukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
I see the bright ocean.
The train grinds to a hault.
I am in Mombasa.
By Egara Kabaji
i) Describe the rhyme scheme of this poem.
ii) Describe how rhythm has been achieved in this poem.
iii) How would you make this poem interesting if you were to recite it to audience.
iv) If the words ‘kukuru kakara kukuru kakara ‘are translated into English, what would happen?
Date posted: June 12, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. Civil War....(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
CIVIL WAR
In this land
Graveyards have no markers
For blood flows freely
Into the gutter
Where corpses abide
In restless sleep
In this land
Kinship is long dead
And the insiders prevail
A neighbours hand
In darkness hidden
Stripes yet another victim’s light
In this land
The wind blows across the neglected fields
Promising yet another spectacle
Of hollowed eyes and pinched skins
Trudging and falling to the unyielding trains
Of self-destruction
In the air
The whiter dove
Flutter with change
And perhaps
It would be better if this symbol of peace
Were established in the souls of the people
In this land
(David Mugwika
(1) What is the poem about?
(2) Who is the speaker?
(3) Identify any two features of the style in the poem and show their effectiveness.
(4) Describe the tone of this poem.
(5) Explain the significance of the last stanza in relation to the message in the whole poem.
(6) Give the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.
(i) Kinship is long dead.
(ii) Stifles yet another victim’s light.
(7) Citing examples, discuss one effect of civil war.
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. From the dark tower(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
FROM THE DARK TOWER
We shall not always plant while others reap
The golden increment of bursting fruit,
Not always countenance, abject and mute,
That lesser men should hold their brothers chap;
Not everlasting while others sleep
Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
We were not made to eternally weep,
The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,
White stars is no less lovely being dark,
And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;
So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
By Countee Cullen
(i) Describe the rhyme scheme in the poem above.
(ii) Apart from rhyme, identify any other way in which the poet has achieved rhythm.
(iii) Which words would you stress in the line: 'We were not made to eternally weep'?
(iv) How would you say the last line of this poem.
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions below.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions below.
Advise to my son
The trick is, to live your days
as if each one may be your last
(for they go fast, and young men lose their lives
in strange and unimaginable ways)
but at the same time, plan long range
(for they go slow : if you survive
the shattered windshield and burning shell
you will arrive
at our approximation here below
or heaven or hell)
To be specific, between the poeny and the rose
plant squash and spinach, turnips and tomatoes;
beauty in nectar
and nectar, in desert saves
but the stomach craves stronger sustenance
than the homed vine.
therefore, marry a pretty girl
after seeing her mother;
speak truth to one man,
work with another;
and always, serve bread with your wine.
But son,
Always serve wine
(Peter Meinke)
a) Who is the speaker in the poem. Illustrate your answer.
b) In what circumstances do many young people die? Illustrate your answer from the poem.
c) What do heaven and hell symbolize?
d) Identify items in the poem that represent life’s necessities on one hand and life’s luxuries on the other.
e) Identify and illustrate the use of the paradox in the poem.
f) What does the persona mean by ‘marry a pretty girl after seeing the mother'?
g) The stomach craves stronger sustenance.(Rewrite using (What)
h) Give two meanings of each of the following words.
-Last
-Fast
i) Give the meaning of the last two lines
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
SUNSET
The sun spun like
a tossed coin
it whirled on the azure sky,
it clattered into the horizon,
it clicked in the slot,
and neon lights popped,
and blinked ‘time expired’
as on a parking meter.
(Oswald Mbusiyeni: mtshaki)
i) Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem
ii) How would you say the last line of this poem
iii) State any two onomatopoeic words in the poem.
iv) Identify any other sound pattern used in the poem.
v) State and illustrate three non-verbal cues that you would use to make the recitation of the above poem interesting.
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Horizons by Kalungi Kabuye(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Horizons by Kalungi Kabuye
As I meditate
And levitate
In human state
No one can see
How the internal sea
Wells up with hope
But lets hope
Life so dear
With love so near
And closeness so close
Will bring home
The thing that we hope
Means to transform
Even the simplest digit
Into a magnified seed
Of a mustard tree
i) Which words would you stress in line (i) of the poem and why?
ii) How has rhythm been achieved in this poem?
iii) What tone of voice would be appropriate in recitation of this poem?
iv) How would you say the last line of this poem?
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her, though I know she lies.
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearned in the world’s false subleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best.
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says shes not unjust?
And wherefore says not I that I am old?
O love’s best habit is seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
Questions.
(i) Identify and illustrate the sound patterns in the poem.
(ii) Explain and illustrate the rhyme scheme in the poem.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend
With thee; but, sir, so what I plead is just.
Why do sinners way prosper? and why must
Disappointment all I endeavour end?
Wert thou my enemy O thou my friend
How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost
Defeat, thwart me? Oh, the sots and thralls of lust
Do spare hours more thrive than, that spend,
Sir, life upon thy cause. See, banks and breaks
Now, leavèd how thick! lacèd they are again
With fretty cherril, look, and fresh wind shakes
Them; birds build – but not I build; no, but strain,
Time’s enough, and not breed one work that wakes.
Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.
Questions
(i) Identify four examples of assonance in the poem.
(ii) Write out and describe the rhyme scheme of the poem.
(iii) How would you perform the last line of the poem?
(iv) Indicate whether the following lines in the poem would be said with a falling or rising intonation.
a) Why do sinners way prosper?
b) Disappointment all I endeavor end?
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. The Seed Shop(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
The Seed Shop
HERE in a quiet and dusty room they lie,
Faded a scrumbled stone or shifting sand,
Forlorn as ashes, shrivelled, scentless, dry--
Meadows and gardens running through my hand.
In this brown husk a dale of hawthorn dreams,
A cedar in this narrow cell is thrust
That will drink deeply of a century's streams,
These lilies shall make summer on my dust.
Here in their safe and simple house of death,
Sealed in their shells, a million roses leap;
Here I can blow a garden with my breath,
And in my hand a forest lies asleep.
(i) Describe the rhyme scheme of this poem.
(ii) What is the effect of rhyme in the poem?
(iii) Giving one example, show how else the poet has achieved the effect in (ii) above?
(iv) Which word would you stress in the last line of stanza one and why?
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
(Solved)
Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
DOES IT MATTER?
Does it matter? Losing your legs? ……………..
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.
Does it matter? – losing your sight? …………..
There is such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
And sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.
Does it matter? – those dreams from the pit? ………..
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you are mad,
For they will know you’ve fought for your country.
And no one will worry a bit.
Questions
(i) Write the rhyme scheme of the poem.
(ii) How has rhythm been achieved in the poem?
(iii)Which lines would you stress most if you were to say this poem aloud and why?
Date posted: May 28, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following oral poem and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following oral poem and answer the questions that follow.
She was gone by and by
The lights sprang up again
The wind whirled in full sight
Of the fantastic fairy palace over the arches
near – little felt amid the jarring
of the machinery and scarcely heard
above its crash and rattle
silver and gold she searched.
(i) How is rhythm achieved in the oral poem?
(ii) How would you say the idiophone in the poem?
Date posted: May 28, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer questions that follow.
The sweetest thing by Ibid.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer questions that follow.
The sweetest thing by Ibid.
The sweetest thing by Ibid.
There is in this world something
That surpasses all other things
In sweetness.
It is sweeter than honey
It is sweeter than salt
It is sweeter than sugar
It is sweeter than all
Existing things.
This thing is sleep
When you are conquered by sleep
Nothing can prevent you
Nothing can stop you from sleeping
When you are conquered by sleep
And numerous millions arrive
Millions will find you asleep
(i) Identify and illustrate two sound patterns used in the poem.
(ii) Write down words from the poems that have the following sounds;
/ i: / …………………………………………
/ S / …………………………………………
/ D / ………………………………………..
Date posted: May 24, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.
I SEE HIS BLOOD UPON THE ROSE by Joseph Plunkett
(Solved)
Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.
I SEE HIS BLOOD UPON THE ROSE by Joseph Plunkett
I see his blood upon the rose,
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice - and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words
All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever beating sea
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
i) Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem
ii) Which words would you stress in the last two lines of the last stanza and why?
iii) Apart from rhyme, identify and illustrate one sound device in this poem
iv) Give two effects of the above sound pattern
v) How would you say the last line of the poem
Date posted: May 23, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow.
THAT OTHER LIFE(Solved)
Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow.
THAT OTHER LIFE
(By Everett M Standa)
I have only faint memories
Memories of those days when all our joyful moment
In happiness, sorrow and dreams
Were so synchronized
That we were in spirit and flesh
One soul;
I have only faint memories
When we saw each other’s image everywhere;
The friends, the relatives,
The gift of flowers, clothes and treats,
The evening walks where we praised each other,
Like little children in love;
I remember the dreams about children
The friendly neighbors and relatives
The money, the farms and cows
All were the pleasures ahead in mind
Wishing for the day of final union
When the dreams will come true
On that day final union
We promised each other pleasures and care
And everything good under the sun
As a daily reminder that you and me were one forever
QUESTIONS
a) What does the day of the final union mean to the persona?
b) What faint memories does the persona have, according to the poem?
c) What is the persona’s attitude towards their marriage?
d) Explain the following expressions as used in the poem
(i) Happiness, sorrow and dreams were so synchronized............
(ii) ....... praised each other like children in love
(iii) All were pleasures ahead in mind.
e) Identify two aspects of style used in this poem and explain their effectiveness.
f) What is the mood of the poem
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below then answer the questions that follow.
Riding Chinese Machines(Solved)
Questions
(a) Briefly describe what the poem is about.
(b) Explain how the poet feels towards the beasts in the city.
(c) Identify two poetic devices employed by the poet in the poem.
(d) Explain the irony of the type of development described in the poem
(e) Explain the meaning of the following lines in the poem.
ii) The lions investigate and buried marvel rumbles squeezed for progress.
(f) Identify and explain one theme tackled in the poem.
(g) Explain the significance of the title to the poem.
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the oral poem below and then answer the questions that follows
'FAMINE'(Solved)
'FAMINE'
The owner of yam peels his yam in the house’s:
A neighbor knocks at the door
The owner of yam throws his yam in the bedroom:
The neighbor says, I just heard
A sound, ‘kerekere’, that is why I came,
The owner of the yam replies,
That was nothing, I was sharpening two knives.
The neighbor says again, I still heard
Something like ‘bi’ sound behind the door.
The owner of the yam says,
'I merely tried my door with a mallet.'
The neighbour says again,
'What about his huge fie burning on your hearth?'
The fellow replies,
'I am merely warming water for my bath.'
The neighbour persist,
'Why is your skin all white, when this is not the Harmattan season'
The fellow is ready with his reply,
I was rolling on the floor when I heard the death of Agadapidi.”
Then the neighbour says, 'Peace be with you.'
The owner of the yam start shut,
'There cannot be peace'
Unless the owner of food is allowed to eat his own food!'
Questions.
(a) Briefly explain what the poem is about.
(b) What does the neighbor hope to achieve by being so persistent?
(c) Using illustrations, describe any two character traits of the owner of the yam.
(d) Identify the ideophones words in the poem.
(e) How do we know that the neighbor is observant?
(f) Describe the tone of the owner of the yam.
(g) The neighbor says, 'peace be with you.' Why is this statement ironic?
(h) What lesson can we learn from this poem?
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the oral poem below and then answer the questions that follows.(Solved)
Read the oral poem below and then answer the questions that follows.
Today I did my share
In building the nation
I drove a permanent Secretary
To an important urgent function
In fact a luncheon at the Vic.
The menu reflected its importance
Cold Bell beer with small talk,
Then friend chicken with niceties
Wine to fill the hollowness of the laughs
Ice-cream to cover the stereotype jokes
Coffee to keep the PS awake on return journey.
I drove the Permanent Sectretary back.
He yawned many times in the back of the car
Did you have any lunch friend?
I replied looking straight ahead
And secretly smiling at his belated concern
That I had not, but was smiling!
Upon which he said with a seriousness
That amused more than annoyed me,
Mwananchi, I too had none!
I attended to matters of state
Highly delicate diplomatic duties you know,
And friend, it goes against my grain,
Causes me stomach ulcers and wind.
Ah, he continued, yawning again,
The pains we suffer in buiding the nation!
So the PS had ulcers too!
My ulcers I think are equally painful
Only they are caused by hunger,
Not sumptuous lunches!
So two nation builders
Arrived home this evening
With terrible stomach pains
The result of building the nation -
- Different ways.
Henry Barlow
1. Identify two voices in the poem
2. Explain what the poem addresses
3. Identify and illustrate the use of any two poetic devices uses in the poem and explain their effectiveness
4. Describe the tone in the poem
5. How would you describe the attitude of the permanent secretary towards the persona?
6. Describe the rhyme scheme in stanza one
7. i) 'He yawned many times in the back of the car.' Add a question tag
ii) ' I drove the permanent secretary back.
Write in passive voice
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)